This invention relates generally to a chequerwork for a vertical cowper, the cowper comprising an upright chamber having a filler brick zone therein through which flows combustion heating gas for heating the filler brick or the blast to be heated by the filling. This invention also relates to a novel chequer brick for the chequerwork of the vertical cowper of the type hereinabove described.
As the temperature in which hot blast is blown into a blast furnace rises, and as the hot blast throughput in a blast furnace increases, the physical demands made on the cowper and on its chequerwork similarly increases. It is well known to those in the art that the chequerwork must provide, as effectively as possible, heat exchange between the very hot combustion gases in the filler brick, as well as between the cold blast in the filler bricks, with a minimum loss of pressure.
As a consequence, fluid mechanics and heat technology processes in the cowper are of extreme importance, particularly in the filler brick zone. Thus, the intimate connection between these processes and the entire heat exchange process is well known to those in the art.
It is also well known that the "filling" of a vertical cowper consists of individual filler bricks, conventionally tubular bricks, which are superimposed upon one another to form a pile. This pile is generally as uniform as possible and usually has conduits or passageways which are passing therethrough. Important factors in designing such a piling include good utilization of space, retaining (as much as possible) the conventional construction of a hot blast stove for blast furnaces, achieving maximum possible effective heating surfaces, providing uniform distribution of flow over the cross section of the filler brick zone, as well as providing storage capacity and mechanical (static) stability of the individual filler bricks.
It will thus be appreciated to those skilled in the art that there is a need to increase the efficiency of a vertical cowper by improving the chequerwork in the filler brick zone of the cowper in accordance with the various demands and considerations discussed hereinabove.